DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION AND SUPPLIES

In line with paragraph 17(i) (a-f) of the National Boundary Commission (Establishment) Act 2006, the Department of Administration and Supplies was created among others. The Department was hitherto known as Department of Administration. The Act therefore added more responsibility for the Department to take charge of the supplies division, along with Appointment, Promotion, Discipline, Training and Staff Welfare and Pension.

The Department of Administration and Supplies has three (3) Divisions, namely,

Appointment, Promotion and Discipline (APD);

Training and Staff Welfare (T & SW);

Supplies;

The department also overseas the:

Staff Pension; and

Servicom

The Department is headed by a Director, supported by two (2) Assistant Directors, a Chief Administrative Officer and other Officers on various Cadres of the Service.

ACTIVITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT

The Department of Administration and Supplies provides the Secretariat of the meetings of Senior Management Committee (SMC), the Ministerial Tenders Board (MTB), the Procurement Planning Committee (PPC) as well as Junior Staff Committee (JSC). With the inauguration of the Board of the Commission, the Department would also provide the Secretariat of the meetings of the Board of the Commission.

TRAINING

As part of government policy to ensure that staff in the Federal Service undergo on the job trainings, all Ministries and Extra–Ministerial Departments were directed to commit 20% of their personnel cost on training. In line with the directive, the Commission had in Year 2007, trained forty-seven (47) Junior Staff and two hundred and thirty four (234) Senior Staff in various Local and Foreign Courses, relevant to the Professional and Administrative duties of the Commission. Since the beginning of 2008, several Senior and Junior Staff in the Commission attended local and foreign training programmes. The department also organized in-house induction courses for Senior and Junior Staff. It is expected that the number of training programmes would increase, in 2009, depending on budgetary allocations and releases.

PROMOTION OF STAFF

The Commission promoted sixteen (16) Senior Staff and fourteen (14) Junior Staff to various grades and cadres in the year 2007. During the year, four (4) Junior Staff were converted to other cadres and six (6) others were advanced to the next grade, in the service, having fulfilled the requirements. In 2008, six (6) Junior Staff were interviewed for promotion and two (2) were considered for Advancement. Two (2) appeared for disciplinary matters. Fifty-eight (58) Senior Staff are currently due for Promotion interview, three (3) for Advancement, one (1) for Conversion and one (1) for Upgrading. Three (3) Senior Staff have applied for transfer of their service to the Commission.

WELFARE

With the introduction of the Federal Government Policy on Monetization, all fringe allowances that were hitherto rendered by Government to Staff were withdrawn and monetized. Some of the allowances affected by the monetization policy include transportation, housing, medicals, etc. In place of shouldering the medical bills of Staff, the Government introduced the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) by 2004. The purpose of the Scheme was to provide a comprehensive, affordable Health Care for the generality of Nigerians. The Staff of the Commission had responded positively to the provisions of the Scheme and had registered themselves and their families to benefit in it.

SUPPLIES

The Accountant-General of the Federation in a Circular Ref. No. TRY/A4&B4/2008, dated 23rd April, 2008, forwarded guidelines for due Process Certification of Contracts and for the utilization of Capital and recurrent funds of Ministries, Extra-Ministerial Offices and Agencies. The Circular explained the implementation of S.16 (2) of the Procurement Act, 2007.

The Circular directed the establishment of a Procurement Planning Committee in compliance with section 21 (1) of the Act. It also provided for certification and consequent payment for contracts under the recurrent and capital votes.

The Circular further provided that all contracts and payments for recurrent and capital expenditure below N1m (One Million, Naira) threshold in Ministries, Extra-Ministerial Offices and Agencies and N700, 000 (Seven Hundred Naira), in case of Parastatals, shall be approved by the Permanent Secretaries / Chief Executives of Extra-Ministerial Offices, provided that due process is followed in accordance with extant rules and circulars.

In this Commission, the Director-General / Secretary to the Commission is the Accounting Officer of the Commission vide paragraph 16(b) of the Establishing Act., 2006. Accordingly, the Director-General has a limited capacity to approve contracts below N1m (One Million Naira).

PENSION SCHEME

In line with paragraph 18 (2), of the National Boundary Commission (Establishment) Act, 2006, the remuneration, allowances, benefits and pensions of Staff of the Commission is determined in conformity with the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission. Accordingly, the provisions of the Pension Act, provided that Staff of the Commission had registered with various Pension Administrators of their choices. The remittance of the Staff contributions of 7.5% of their monthly salaries and the corresponding 7.5% contributions by Government has been remitted to the Staff Pension Funds as required by law.

SERVICOM

The Servicom Unit was created by Government on the 10th March, 2005, but was launched in the Commission on the 3rd October, 2006, to evolve a new way of conducting government business through efficient service delivery system.

In compliance with the spirit of Servicom’s desire to pursue a reform agenda for an efficient delivery system, the Commission, as an Agency of the Federal Government responsible for the peaceful resolution of all boundary disputes within the Country, and between Nigeria and her immediate neighbours, has a duty to ensure a prompt boundary disputes resolution and management. The Commission therefore made arrangements to ensure the implementation of its own charter thoroughly and diligently, in accordance with Government directives in pursuit of the vision and mission statement and the services to be rendered.

The Servicom Unit is presently headed by an Assistant-Director in the Department of Administration and Supplies.

National Boundary Commission

National Boundary Commission was first established by the National Boundary Commission Act., Chapter 238 of 1987. That Act has now been repealed and is now replaced by the National Boundary Commission (Establishment) Act, 2006.